Beau of The Fifth Column
Let's talk about Trump firing thousands, unrelated news, and still more totally unrelated news....
17 Oct 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Well, howdy there, Internet people. It's Belle again. So today, we're going to talk about Trump wanting to fire another 10,000 Americans and unrelated news and more unrelated news. Trump is attempting to use his shutdown to fire thousands upon thousands of American workers. Russell Vaught, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said, quote,
We want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy, not just the funding.
Chapter 2: What are the implications of Trump's plan to fire thousands of workers?
We now have an opportunity to do that, and that's where we're going to be looking for our opportunities. Remember that bit about having the opportunity. When talking about the number of Americans the Trump administration wants to put in the unemployment line, he said, quote, I think we'll probably end up being north of 10,000.
Trump recently said, Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things they like, cutting programs they like. It seems clear here that the Trump administration is suggesting the administration can do things during a shutdown they can't do otherwise. That certainly seems like an opportunity for an end run on the Constitution. But I guess that's a matter for the courts to decide.
In totally unrelated news, a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump from firing about 4,000 American workers. A San Francisco U.S. District Court judge reportedly told government attorneys, quote, The judge also reportedly said the administration took, quote,
advantage of the lapse in government spending and government functioning to assume that all bets are off. The laws don't apply to them anymore, and they can impose the structures that they like on the government situation they don't like.
The judge seems pretty certain that the unions representing federal workers would be able to demonstrate the firings were arbitrary and capricious. Many people in the administration have made comments about going after what they call Democrat agencies and shuttering them. Those agencies were likely approved by Congress, which means Trump can't just close them down because he wants to.
Their own rhetoric on social media will likely end up being the cause of federal workers winning in court. The judge said, quote, It's very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost.
In still more unrelated news, totally unrelated to the idea of the government using a ready, fire, aim approach, about five months ago, Trump's EPA canceled a $20 million grant for flood prevention for the Alaska native village of Kipnuk. It was part of a bunch of cuts the administration called, quote, wasteful DEI and environmental justice grants. The village is now underwater.
Human cost, indeed. Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.
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